Tonic water contains quinine and was originally drunk with gin in tropical climates in order to counteract malaria 鈥� but how exactly does quinine treat the disease?
鈥� Quinine is poisonous, but fortunately it is less harmful to you than to malaria parasites.
When feeding, the parasites break down haemoglobin in your , releasing a toxic waste product called haem. Normally the parasites dispose of it by storing it in harmless insoluble clots. Although the precise way in which quinine and related drugs work is still obscure, it seems they interfere with the storage process, poisoning the parasites with their own wastes.
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In appropriate doses, quinine does little harm to the body, but it can have some nasty effects if abused. It can cause heart, nerve, eye and kidney damage, and pregnant women should certainly not take it.
The drug was once also prescribed for night-time cramps. However, tests of its efficacy have given such variable and sometimes alarming results that its use for this purpose is now widely discouraged.
Quinine is one of the most bitter substances known, and has become an ingredient in some bitters used in cocktails 鈥� but it is present in such small quantities that it probably amounts to less of a health hazard than the alcohol.
鈥淨uinine is in some bitters used in cocktails, where it is probably less of a health hazard than the alcohol鈥�
Jon Richfield, Somerset West, South Africa